Kansas City Monarchs Archives - All Mississippi Baseball

under the radar

It’s tough to get much attention in the American Association, an independent league of mostly Midwest teams with odd nicknames. Gavin Collins deserves a little love. The Mississippi State alum has banged out 16 hits over his last 10 games for the Kansas City Monarchs, a .381 clip that has boosted his average to .314. Playing catcher and some third base, Collins, 28, has 10 homers and 41 RBIs for a team that leads the AA’s West Division with a 46-33 record. Collins may also have found it difficult to get much attention while at MSU, where, in his junior year of 2016, his teammates included Brent Rooker, Nathaniel Lowe, Dakota Hudson, Ethan Small, Konnor Pilkington and Jake Mangum. Collins hit .302 for a 44-win team that reached a Super Regional, and he was a 13th-round pick by Cleveland in the 2016 draft. He spent six years in the Indians/Guardians’ minor league system, batting .246 overall and reaching the Triple-A level. He became a free agent at the end of the 2022 season, signed with Tampa Bay and went to the Rays’ spring training camp before being released at the end of March. He then signed with the Monarchs, who also suit up ex-Bulldogs standout Jacob Robson, Delta State product Dalton Moats and Chris Herrmann — another catcher, one who spent eight years in the big leagues and currently leads the team in average, homers and RBIs. P.S. With Ozzie Albies on the injured list, Atlanta reportedly has called up former Mississippi Braves star Vaughn Grissom from Triple-A Gwinnett, probably as the backup to Nicky Lopez at second base. Grissom, a righty hitter, is hitting .327 with six homers and 50 RBIs. The Braves’ other infield option at Gwinnett was ex-M-Braves star Braden Shewmake, a lefty hitter and better fielder than Grissom who is batting .229 with 13 homers, 57 RBIs and 20 steals. That’s some kinda system depth. … Also back in The Show is former M-Braves infielder Johan Camargo, recently signed and called up Monday by San Francisco. Camargo spent 10 years in the Atlanta system and was in Pearl in 2016.

kc connection

There is a strong Mississippi flavor on the roster of the Kansas City Monarchs, who play in the independent American Association. Former Mississippi State standout Gavin Collins is the team’s regular catcher and is batting .362, ranking among the league leaders heading into a game today. Collins, a six-year minor leaguer, was in Tampa Bay’s big league camp this spring. Outfielder Jacob Robson, another ex-Bulldogs star and onetime big leaguer, has four homers and nine RBIs. He played for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Both Collins and Robson went deep in a Tuesday loss to Lincoln. On the bump, the Monarchs have Delta State product Dalton Moats, a lefty who is 2-2 with a 6.63 ERA, and former Mississippi Braves right-hander Patrick Weigel, who has some MLB time. Longtime major league star Frank White, a Greenville native who won a World Series with the Royals, is the first-base coach for the Monarchs. The team, which has a 14-9 record entering play today, used to be known as the T-Bones but adopted the old Negro Leagues moniker a couple of years ago. They play at Legends Field, not far from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.